COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Jul) – A powerful bomb explosion ripped through a commuter bus Saturday in the southern Philippines, police and military authorities said.
The blast damaged a bus owned by YBL in Koronadal City in South Cotabato province, but there were no reports of casualties. The bus came from Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province.
Authorities said the explosive was planted at the rear of the bus and detonated at around 5.35 p.m. when all the passengers had disembarked at a transport depot.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast. Police and military would not say whether the latest attack was connected to the terror groups Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiya.
The bus was bombed at a time the firm’s transport workers were threatening to stage a strike because of labor dispute.
Last month, a commuter bus owned by Weena Bus Lines was also bombed at a transport terminal in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province.
Foreign embassies have warned their citizens against traveling in the southern Philippines because of threats of terror attacks and kidnappings for ransom. Filipino troops are battling Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the volatile region.
Security forces are also pursuing rogue members of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who are holding an Italian Roman Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi kidnapped June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province. (Juan Magtanggol)
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